To
celebrate marijuana legalization in Colorado, Munchies columnist David
Bienenstock recently traveled to Aspen, to attend a legal seminar hosted
by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws—America's
oldest and largest group dedicated to legalizing cannabis. And since
the late Hunter S. Thompson was one of NORML's earliest and most
consistent supporters, we figured what better way to embrace the sweet
smell of herbal liberation in the Rocky Mountain State than by throwing a
small victory party at Owl Farm—the author and advocate's home and
“fortified compound” in Woody Creek—featuring an appropriately
over-the-top pairing of fully legal cannabis and high-end cuisine?

Pulling
this off required first and foremost the permission and kind
hospitality of Anita Thompson, Hunter Thompson's widow, who resides at
Owl Farm and keeps a close eye on her dearly departed husband's literary
legacy. Then, to handle the culinary and scientific feat of preparing a
multi-course marijuana-infused meal of the highest order, we partnered
Chef Chris Lanter of Aspen hotspot Cache Cache with cannabis-infusion
expert Tamar Wise, former head of science at the world's largest
marijuana edibles company.

In all, we infused four different
oils, using four different ganja strains, for use in four different
preparations (three savory and one dessert), with a joint of each strain
set aside for smoking. All served to a highly select group of heads at
Owl Farm, including NORML's founder, and Hunter S. Thompson's close
friend, Keith Stroup—our guest of honor. And now, it's time to: Buy the
ticket, take the ride...

The
Rapture tests at nearly 90% THC and Gil gets a chance to take a test
drive of this high powered concentrate from Orange County, CA

A
hookah also known as a water-pipe, narghile, Qalyan, or shisha is a
single or multi-stemmed instrument for smoking flavored tobacco in which
the smoke is passed through a water basin (often glass based) before
inhalation.

The tobacco smoked is referred to as mu'assel, or "shisha."

The Origin of the hookah is at India, Persia, or at a transition point
between the two. The word hookah is a derivative of "huqqa," which is
what the Indians used to call it in the past.

According to
author Cyril Elgood, who does not mention his source, it was Abul-Fath
Gilani in 1588, a Persian physician at the Indian court of the Mughal
emperor Akbar, who “first passed the smoke of tobacco through a small
bowl of water to purify and cool the smoke and thus invented the
hubble-bubble or hookah.

Donald Abrams, M.D. is chief of Hematology and Oncology at San
Francisco General Hospital and the co-author?with Andrew Weil?of
Integrative Oncology (Oxford University Press). Abrams has extensive
experience working with cancer and HIV/AIDS patients and is a pioneer
in the field of medical cannabis research.

The U.S. government classifies cannabis—along with heroin and
LSD—as a Schedule I drug, the most tightly restricted category of drugs
in the United States. According to the federal government, Schedule I
drugs are unsafe and have "no currently accepted medical use in
treatment in the United States."

However, as medical cannabis proponents have pointed out since
the Controlled Substances Act was passed by Congress in 1970, cannabis
has been used medicinally for thousands of years, and there has never
been a reported case of a marijuana overdose. Moreover, in recent years
clinical researchers around the world have demonstrated the medicinal
value of cannabis.

Reason.tv's Paul Feine sat down with Dr. Abrams to learn more
about the science of medical cannabis.

Approximately 10 minutes. Produced by Paul Feine and Alex
Manning.

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